The present invention refers to a reduced-encumbrance anti-theft case, that can be used particularly to protect compact disks, musicassettes, videocassettes and similar items that are commercially available in different types of stores.
Various types of anti-theft cases are known in the art, the most recent and widespread of which is disclosed in EP-A-0402822, that is the preamble of claim 1. This anti-theft case is characterized by the following features:
it is composed of a box substantially shaped as a parallelepiped that is equipped with an insertion window for the cassette next to at least one of its faces; PA1 such window leaves at least two sidewall portions next to two opposite sides of the face; PA1 the length of the box opening, in the cassette-insertion direction, that is between these two sides, is greater than the length of the cassette itself; PA1 a movable abutment member cooperating with the cassette head is provided inside the case in the area of one of the two sidewall portions: this member can alternatively assume an active abutment position, advanced towards the cassette, and an inactive releasing position away from the cassette; and PA1 a locking and unlocking device to take the movable abutment member from its active abutment position to its inactive releasing position.
Though being quite satisfactory for the applications for which it is provided, the anti-theft case disclosed in EP-A-0402822 has overall dimensions that are slightly greater than the ones of the cassette that it must protect. Since usually anti-theft cases are delivered to commercial users (and the same cases are stored by such users waiting to be employed) in relevant amounts, the total encumbrance of a delivery and/or storage batch of anti-theft cases is very high, with correspondingly high transport or storage costs.
Object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, providing an anti-theft case that, in addition to being efficient and sturdy as typical for a protective case (and thereby remaining unaltered with respect to prior art as regards these protective features), has reduced overall dimensions when it is stacked together with other cases of the same type for transport and/or storage.
Due to its particular arrangement, the case of the present invention provides both for the loading of the item to be protected in an inclined (or even longitudinal) direction with respect to the case itself, and for the movable abutment member displacement in a longitudinal, and not transverse, direction with respect to the case, as instead occurs in prior art anti-theft cases. Due to these two further combined features, it is possible to realize the simultaneous functions of reduced encumbrance and efficient anti-theft.
Another object of the present invention, obtained by adopting a second embodiment both of the movable abutment member and of the locking and unlocking device, is further reducing the overall encumbrance of the anti-theft case, eliminating the projection in which the known embodiment of the locking and unlocking device was housed. In fact, the new locking and unlocking device can be housed inside the anti-theft case itself, without occupying a great deal of space, and thus eliminating the need for the above projection on the bottom side of the case.
Another object of the present invention in the above second embodiment thereof is providing an abutment member/locking and unlocking device arrangement through which it is impossible to break free the item to be protected by applying a sudden, strong force to the anti-theft case in an attempt to make the abutment member go out of the case itself. In fact, the abutment member can be freed from the locking and unlocking device only by carrying out two separate actions, that is, by pushing the abutment member inwards and by applying a magnetic attraction force to the locking and unlocking device to unlock it from the abutment member.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a reduced-encumbrance anti-theft case as disclosed in claim 1.